Best TPO from a Small Country

Motivation

Enterprise Mauritius was created to help the country face the new era of open market trading. “Mauritius is at a crucial point in its economic development,” the organization said. “The country must now face the beginning of a new era of open market trading.”

Response

Integrated approach

Convinced that rapid change was essential, Enterprise Mauritius created an “integrated approach that allows it to look at the internal capability of Mauritius businesses and international market opportunities simultaneously rather than sequentially.” This allowed Enterprise Mauritius to respond to change more rapidly, and help more of the country’s companies to move from a local market orientation to an emphasis on exporting.

Diversifying markets

In the past, Mauritius depended on the sugar and textile sectors to generate export income. Enterprise Mauritius was convinced of the need to diversify quickly into new markets. These included wood and furniture, chemicals, leather and footwear, boat building, jewellery, light engineering, food and beverages, and seafood, all Mauritian products or activities.

For the traditional sugar sector, there was a need to reposition. “The areas of focus for the cane industry are two-fold: a more optimal exploitation of the biomass for the generation of electricity and thermal energy; and the transformation of cane juice into higher value-added products such as special sugars, rum and valuable fine chemicals obtained by processing molasses.”

Support to traditional markets

Enterprise Mauritius was also working to re-invigorate the textile and clothing sector, working with local manufacturers with export potential to help them gain a share in targeted markets overseas.